HARRISBURG — The Corbett administration is making changes to the state agency that primarily regulates Pennsylvania’s booming natural gas industry, including elevating the status of the Bureau of Oil and Gas Management, officials said Monday.

The Department of Environmental Protection did not comment on questions about the changes, and a spokeswoman said it would answer questions today.

However, Sen. John Yudichak, the ranking Democrat on the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said an official told his office that it would elevate the bureau in status and put it under its own deputy secretary.

Under the new structure, an Office of Oil and Gas Management would report directly to department administrators in Harrisburg and not to regional offices.

Yudichak, D-Luzerne, said he would reserve judgment on the changes until he gets more details, but added that, from the little he knew, the plan is a good one if it helps ensure that the department can protect public health and the environment.

“There’s a tremendous amount of demand ... on the resources in terms of physical personnel and the work that needs to be done,” Yudichak said.

Currently, the Bureau of Oil and Gas Management is one of five bureaus under the Office of Mineral Resources Management.

The natural gas industry began flocking to Pennsylvania in earnest in 2008 to tap the Marcellus Shale formation, regarded as the largest-known natural gas reservoir in the nation.

That year, the bureau flagged 1,519 oil and gas drilling violations, according to department records. Last year, it flagged 2,759, a number it is poised to exceed by almost 30 percent this year after reporting 2,541 violations through the first eight months, according to the department’s records.